Testing Your Luck
by RowanJade
Summary: A sequel to Testing The Faithful. The Cylon attack from a different point of view. You may want to read Faithful first so you get to know the characters.
1. Chapter 1

Okay so I've been bitten by an equally evil rabid plot bunny. I spent a long time thinking about what I could possibly do to follow up Testing The Faithful and I came up with nothing. So I stopped thinking about it and POOF there it was. (Ain't that just the way of things?) So instead of a sequel as such you all will be getting a look at the other side of the Lee and Lauren story. If you haven't read Testing The Faithful yet, I'd suggest you read it before this one. 

By the way, I've also gotten a whole plot thought out for the NEXT part of their story too. )

**Rated:** PG-13 for suggested violence, threats of abuse, and mild cussing (nope, no smut in this one so you can relax)  
**Word Count**: 18456

**DISCLAIMER **I don't own anything here except the original characters, someone way smarter and richer than me does. . Don't sue me it's not worth your time cause I'm getting nothing but a significant lack of sleep from this.

The first explosion rumbled through the base, shaking Lauren from her sleep. She sat up still half asleep and looked around her small dorm room searching for the cause of the noise. A light rain of dust sifted down from the ceiling and she knew then that it wasn't just a bad dream. Not hearing any alarms she decided to settle back down when another explosion roared through the base, bringing her fully alert. She bolted from her bunk and reached for her jump suit and boots. Sliding herself into the slick material of her jump suit and hastily shoving her feet into her boots she was just opening the door when the situation alarms finally began blaring through the metal halls.

Still unaware of the situation she looked up and down the hall at the crew running in confusion, trying to reach a station they were assigned to. But what for? What were the explosions from? Seeing a Major that she'd become familiar with over the past week she jogged after the man and asked what was happening.

"We're under attack!" he panted as he ran. "Get to your station!"

Lauren stopped and looked around. She didn't have a station to go to . She wasn't a regular part of this crew so she hadn't been assigned any permanent duty. She pondered the situation for a moment as two more booms rolled through the walls and she decided that if they were under attack the best place for her to be was in the Battlestar. She thought about what was happening as she made her way through the halls to the lift that would take her to the flight deck of the _Battlestar Pegasus _that was docked above her in the station for repairs.

Lauren had been transferred to Picon three weeks ago at the request of Colonel Tinasso and the few days she had been there were spent working 16 hours shifts and trying desperately to get enough sleep to make it through the next shift. Then one day in the middle of the shift, the Colonel had called her into his office. He looked upset when she got there and she racked her brain trying to figure out what she'd done to annoy him. She'd been known in the past for getting under her CO's skin like a bug and she'd been trying to change her ways for a while now. Not being able to determine what she'd done wrong, she stood patiently waiting for him to begin yelling at her.

"Do you know what this is Lieutenant Baker?" he asked angrily waving a folder at her.

"Sir. No sir I do not."

"This is your orders. Did you request a transfer?"

"Sir, no sir."

"Well Lieutenant, someone seems to think you're a hot commodity because you just got transferred."

"If I may sir? Who put in the transfer?"

Looking down at the folder and frowning at it as if the look could change the words on it the Colonel flipped the folder around so she could see it. "Admiral Gataki over at Scorpion requested your presence personally. You must have done something pretty special to deserve that kind of treatment."

Lauren tried not to smile at the news as she looked up at the Colonel. "Sir I can't think of anything I have done to warrant that."

"Well whatever the case, you've been transferred. Pack your bags Lieutenant, you ship out at 1400."

Lauren saluted the man and tried not to bolt from his office in her excitement. Admiral Gataki had known her for several years now and he was a good man to work for. He took very good care of the people that were under his command and it was considered to be a top notch stationing if you were requested by him. Lauren definitely didn't mind being transferred back to Scorpion Ship Yards where she had worked for almost a year before. She quickly packed her bag and tied up a few loose ends around the base, then headed for the dock where she would catch her flight to Scorpion. 

On the shuttle she realized that she had not been in touch with Lee to tell him about her transfer. Oh well, she thought, I'll tell him when I get settled into Scorpion. She pulled his picture from her breast pocket where she kept it at all times and looked at the face of the man she loved. She spent the rest of the flight thinking about the night she met him and how wonderful it was to spend time with him, an activity she'd been uprooted from when she got transferred to Picon three weeks ago. Well Admiral Gataki had been the one that allowed her to transfer back to Caprica so she could be with Lee, maybe after the crisis that required her presence was over, he'd let her transfer back again. Sighing loudly, she leaned her head back and closed her eyes, thinking about how it would be to be back in Lee's arms. The serenity of it soon lulled her to sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

Lauren jerked awake as the shuttle docked at Scorpion. She gathered her small carry on bag and headed for the hatch, surprised at the number of people milling around the dock. She wondered what was happening when she was almost knocked over by someone shouting something about a strike. She was shoved to one side as she tried to push her way through the line of people and found herself staring up at Admiral Gataki's personal assistant. The young man was exactly that, young, perhaps 22 at the most but he had been working for the Admiral for some time now and he certainly knew his stuff. If you had any questions you needed answered about the working of Scorpion Ship Yards he was the one to ask.

"Good afternoon Lieutenant Baker. It's good to see you again. The Admiral asked me to come escort you through all of this nonsense. I've already requested that your bags be sent to your quarters."

"Specialist Boithos, so good to see you too. What's going on around here?"

"The dock workers are striking, the welders are striking, basically if they are alive and on this station, they are striking." His eyes rolled at the idea of the workers and their demands. "If you'll follow me I'll show you to your quarters and then the Admiral would like to speak with you."

"That will be wonderful. Thank you." She smiled up at the tall man and followed behind him as he set a hectic pace across the dock and towards the main bank of lifts. "So how are things going around here other than the obvious issues?"

"Pretty well, you know the Admiral. He called you and several others in because of the strike. The _Pegasus _is due to dock for a three month over haul this week so we needed reliable people here fast in case the strike didn't break before then."

"Well that makes sense. Gotta make sure the Fleet gets serviced to their specs now don't we? Are you still holding the contract?"

"Yes sir. We've got it for another six years which is one of the reasons the workers are striking. Their contract is up at the end of the year and they want more money, go figure." He paused in his story as they reached the lift and he swiped his card to activate the executive lift. When is descended from a higher lever and the light lit up, Boithos ushered Lauren in and pushed the button for the floor the dorms were on. "So Lieutenant, how has life been treating you?"

"Pretty good up until three weeks ago." She set her bag on the floor as she leaned back against the wall. "I was fine on Caprica, happy and settled and then Tinasso transferred me to Picon." She sighed and leaned her head back as Boithos rolled his eyes at the mention of Tinasso's name. The Colonel was not very well liked on this station because he was notorious for taking all of the best engineers for himself. Tinasso didn't have a government contract like Admiral Gataki so the Admiral had decided a while back that he'd steal people he'd worked with before from Tinasso every chance he got. Lauren was apparently one of the most recent acquisitions.

"So I got shipped over to Picon and got put on Tinasso's suicide shifts, you know, the one's where you'd kill yourself just so you could get some rest. Then he calls me to his office and starts waving orders in my face. When I saw the Admiral's name on the folder I about kissed the man."

Boithos smiled at the idea and nodded his head. "Well I'm glad we could come to your rescue. But it's only fair to warn you, you're gonna be on suicide shifts over here too until the strike breaks or they send us more workers. We're so understaffed right now the Admiral is about to call his mother in to work."

Lauren couldn't help but laugh at that image, "Yeah but the Admiral knows how hard he can push his people. Tinasso thinks we're all Cylons."

"True."

The lift stopped on the floor and the doors hissed open revealing a carpeted hall with plants and artwork on the walls. It looked to Lauren more like a hotel than a military base. She whistled her approval of the décor and followed Boithos out the door and down the hall. "Snazzy, I feel like a princess."

"We'll move you to closer quarters later, for now the Admiral wants you comfortable and happy. He's got enough unrest around here." Boithos stopped in front of a door and waved the lock open with a key card which he handed to Lauren. "Please rest a while and refresh yourself, the Admiral is in a meeting until 20 hundred hours, then if you'd be so kind as to report to him." He smiled at Lauren and backed his way out of the room.

Lauren looked around the room and noticed that her bags had indeed made it here before her. She smiled at Boithos' efficiency and went to find the shower. Once she had wiped the last of the grime from her shift on Picon off and laid out her dress blues she sat for a moment, reflecting on the way her life changed so suddenly once again.


	3. Chapter 3

Standing in front of the Admiral's office door, Lauren straightened her jacket and ran her hand over her hair to make sure it was smoothed down. When she knocked the Admiral answered immediately and she walked in, a big grin on her face as she saw the large man behind his big oak desk. He'd aged a bit since she'd last seen him, a bit more grey at his temples but he was hale and hearty.

"Lieutenant Baker! So wonderful to have you back again. Please come in and have a seat, Can I offer you anything to drink?" He rose over his desk and shook her hand.

"No sir, thank you. I appreciate the room, I feel like visiting royalty."

The Admiral's deep rumbling laugh made her feel at home again. He was always made her feel like she was at home with her father in front of a roaring fire after a hard days work. She'd grown up on Aerelon, the daughter of a farmer and a housewife. Their farm was small but prosperous and Lauren loved her life there. Her family was close and loving and she couldn't have asked for a better one.

"Well you know I appreciate the work you do for me so it was the least I could do. Plus the strikers are in the process of being relocated so I don't really have a decent working dorm available for you. I should in the next day or two so you won't have to hike so far to get to work. So I hear from Sebastian that I rescued you from a certain suicide."

"Yes sir, I think that's about the idea." Her grin was genuine and it showed. "You know the rep that Colonel Tinasso has, well it's quite well founded. I can't tell you how thankful I am. So what's the situation here? Boithos gave me some of the details but I want to know the real dirt."

"Well I'll tell you what, I'm starving and I'm sure you're a bit late for eating as well so how about you join me for dinner and we'll catch up."

"I'd be honored sir."

The admiral chuckled and rose to hold his arm for her. When she'd settled herself on his arm he led her out of the office and down the hall to the main reception area where he advised Boithos that he would be out of the office for the rest of the night. Boithos smiled at them and nodded, wishing them both a good evening. The walked down the staircase to the lower level where there was a promenade of shops and restaurants for the personnel to use. Admiral Gataki steered her towards a finer steakhouse at the far end and seated her on a bench as he spoke with the maitre d'. When he was done he came and sat next to her and asked her how she'd been doing since he'd let her go to Caprica.

"Oh fine. I really can't thank you enough for the transfer. Lee was shocked when I showed up on his doorstep. You should have seen the look on his face! So I've been a homebody for the past year and a half and loving every second of it." She smiled at him and silently thanked him for the immense favor he'd given her with that transfer. "So did you know I was getting transferred off of Caprica or was that just an immense stroke of luck?"

The Maitre D' motioned for them that their table was ready and they walked behind him. When they were seated and the Admiral had ordered a light wine for them he addressed her question. "Actually I'd been trying to get you back to Scorpion for a while. When we started losing people to the strikes I started calling in all the help I could get. I had gotten in touch with Caprica and they told me you were already on your way to Picon so I got on the horn to Tinasso and told him that I needed you more."

Lauren smiled over the top of her glass, "I bet he didn't like that too much did he?"

"Well I'm sure that you already know the answer to that. Of course he didn't like it but you know how an old man like me delights in putting the young whippersnappers in their place."

"Oh now, you're not old Admiral."

"Tell that to my daughter who's pregnant with my first grand child."

"Really? Sarah's pregnant? That's wonderful! I bet her mother is about to burst with excitement."

Gataki laughed, "Yes, Rose is beside herself. If she spends any more time in the Promenade I'll owe them every cubit I make for the next thirty years."

They spent the rest of the meal, chatting about the time that had passed and the situation of the strike. When they'd finished, the Admiral bid her goodnight and left her to find her own way back to her room. She settled down on the bed to rest and think about the day she'd had and soon she was fast asleep.

The next day she began her cycles of work for the Admiral. She needed no reminder of exactly what she was expected to do. Soon the routine was back and Lauren felt as if she were at home, even remembering some of the faces she'd worked with before. So the days began to fly past and she hardly noticed.

Another explosion thundered through the station, more dust fell and suddenly the hall was filled with a cloud of smoke. She coughed a bit and covered her nose with her sleeve, trying to breathe shallow as she twisted her way down the hall, avoiding those that actually had places to be. Suddenly she thought about Thena, her bunk mate. She hadn't been in their quarters and Lauren wondered where she was. She racked her brain as she ran, stumbling over chunks of ceiling tile that had fallen from the vibrations of the explosions. She remembered that Thena was still on duty tonight so she'd be on the Battlestar already. Good, at lease she was safe.

Lauren made her way to the lift, which was surprisingly still working and she punched the flight deck button and held on. She felt the metal box she was in slow a few times as the power fluctuated but she made it to the deck, no worse for wear. The _Pegasus _had been in dock for three days now and Lauren was surprised to see some of her skeleton crew still milling around, looking confused. Realizing that no one was doing anything to get the Vipers in the air to defend the ship she started yelling orders.

"You there! Get that ladder over to that ship. Chief! Has anyone seen the deck chief?"

Chaos took a turn and people snapped out of their shock and got to work. Lauren was moving a Viper towards the mag cat when the pressure in the room changed dramatically, making several people grab their heads in pain. That meant the ship was being sealed off from the base and the pressure was stabilizing on the ship. Lauren wondered what was happening but as long as she heard the turbo lasers thrumming away over her she felt safer.

A static mauled voice came over the speakers in the deck and advised everyone that they were preparing to jump to safety. Suddenly the deck hushed as they realized the FTL drives were spinning up and exactly what that would mean to them. If they were under attack and the CO of the ship was jumping them when they were still locked in the docking clamps they could take half of the station with them. Lauren's jaw dropped and she bolted for the comm to get a hold of anyone on the bridge that would listen to reason.


	4. Chapter 4

"Who the frak is in charge up there?" Lauren yelled into the comm headset.

"That would be Admiral Cain," the voice came back in a disgusted manner.

"Well does Admiral Cain realize we're still locked in the docking clamps? If we don't shake loose before we jump we're gonna take half of Scorpion Yard with us. Believe me, you _do not _want that to happen!"

"Can you unlock them from down there?" the voice was now tinged with panic.

"We'll do the best we can. You need to get on the horn and get the people on the station to release the clamps. We can't now that we're sealed in."

A sudden metal against metal groaning screeched through the deck as the ship lurched forward. Some how Lauren didn't think getting a hold of the station was a priority in the bridge. "Get those ships sealed down! Get into the middle of the room people! Move!" She raced around trying to assist in any way she could. Her specialty was more in electrical work, not the running of the deck but any help that could be given was just what they needed right now.

The metal stress noises kept screeching through the belly of the ship as the Admiral barreled her way out of the braces. The _Pegasus_ was a big solid ship and she could break free eventually but it would cause a lot of damage on the outside of the docking pods. However if they could shake loose and get away from the destruction that was raining down on the station it could be repaired soon enough.

One of the deck hands scrambled past her and shouted something about the attack coming from the Cylons. The Cylons? Had she heard that correctly? No one had heard from the Cylons in forty years. That couldn't be possible. Lauren suddenly felt that her presence would be better served on the bridge. She bolted for the main hatch and staggered up the hall as the ship rocked back and forth trying to break free.

When she reached the small door behind the CIC she looked into the tiny window at the top of the door and was relieved to see Thena sitting at the comm board, headset on, looking a touch green as the floor rolled beneath her. Lauren knew her clearance wouldn't allow her into the CIC itself so she ducked into the comm room and made he way through the bustling crew to Thena's side.

"What in Gods name is happening Thena?"

"We're under attack. It's the Cylons. They are fragging everything at the station."

"Is that why the Admiral is trying to shake us out?"

Thena nodded and shouted something across the room to one of the other techs. Lauren could tell the other woman was busy so she motioned that she was going to head out and Thena nodded. Lauren was mostly happy that her friend was safe but also the was terrified over what was happening. She weaved her way back to the deck and tried to pick up some loose pipes rolling across the floor, clanging loudly against the Viper's skids as they slid. She had picked up the last of the pipes when the ship gave a great heave like a dog shaking water off itself and suddenly they were free of the docking clamps.

The deck fell into an eerie quiet as they waited for further information to come from the bridge. "Docking clamps free. All personnel prepare for FTL jump." Lauren glanced around as she made her way to a safe spot to sit. The crew who already looked sick from the thrashing of the deck suddenly blanched at the thought of a jump. Many of these crew were ground personnel from the station and they'd never been in a jump before but they'd heard about the feeling of being turned inside out it often gave you.

"All right people, sit down and close your eyes and think about happy things. It's not that bad if you don't think about it. It'll be over before you know it." Finally someone that sounded like they were in charge! She looked over at the tall blonde man who had yelled the words of encouragement and he nodded at her. Lauren made her way over to a young woman who looked as If she were terrified and she sat down beside her.

"First jump huh?" the other woman nodded and swallowed loudly. "Not a big deal you know. Just hang on to my hands and close your eyes. Now think about something nice. Been to a beach lately?" The other woman nodded again. "I thought so, you look tan. You look to me like a surf jumper. You know one of those people that loves to run back and forth in the surf, jumping over the waves as they roll in and just having the time of their lives." The other woman smiled and hesitantly nodded a bit of color returning to her face. Lauren closed her eyes as she felt the ship begin the jump and she squeezed the other woman's hands.

Suddenly they were somewhere else and their ears popped as the ship reverted into normal space. Lauren's eyes flew open and she smiled at the other woman who was looking around trying to figure out what had just happened to her. "See? Not that bad. Now you're a pro."

"Thanks, I didn't think I could handle that with out yarking. I'm Sarah by the way."

"Lauren. I know how hard it was for me the first time and I didn't have anyone to hold on to, Puked my guts out after." Her smile was warm and the other woman laughed at her joke. "So you're from Scorpion right? Not a Fleet girl?"

"Nope, I was brought in because of the strike."

"Me too. We'll be all right. This is one of the best ships in the fleet."

The women rose and continued to pick up the debris that had collected on the deck. "What is happening out there?"

"Well I have a friend up in comm and she said we were under attack." Lauren watched as the younger woman's jaw dropped. "Don't worry, we'll be alright. Admiral Cain is still in charge up there and there is no better fighter in the whole Fleet that Cain."

"So you're fleet?" Sarah asked.

"Yup. Mainly I'm electrical but I'm also a pilot. I got transferred back to Scorpion because of the strikes. I worked here a while back and Admiral Gataki and I are on pretty good terms."

"Wow, that's really amazing. I'm just a fill in deckhand. I wasn't supposed to be here but I was one of the few left that didn't walk out. I need the money too bad to strike. I guess that doesn't really matter now does it?"

"No, I guess it doesn't." Lauren's mind wandered over all of the possible implications of a Cylon attack and she was horrified at the ends she reached. Best not to worry over it too much until there were hard facts. She and Sarah were finishing up clearing a large section of the deck when a loud voice boomed across the room.


	5. Chapter 5

"Attention on deck! I need everybody over here please. Right now." They turned to see a man in a flight suit waving a clipboard in the air. He looked like a pilot but he had an air of authority about him so Lauren motioned for Sarah to follow her over to the growing group of people.

"All right everybody, I need you all to settle down please. I'm Captain Taylor and I've been sent down here for two reasons. Number one is to let you all know what is going on." The crowd erupted into a riot of questions that overwhelmed the Captain. He was yelling at the top of his lungs for everyone to settle down and no one was listening so Lauren walked back over to the pile of pipes she and Sarah had picked up and started banging one of them against the metal deck.

"If you people will please quiet down and let the Captain speak I'm sure we can get all of our questions answered." She nodded to the Captain to continue.

"Thank you. As I was saying. What we know is very little at this point. We've been attacked by the Cylons. They were shooting at everything that looked Colonial so as you know we shook loose of the dock and made a run for safety. We are currently outside of Tauron's orbit. The Admiral is making plans and trying to find out any more information on the status of our situation. Now, the second thing I'm here for is to find out who you all are. I need to get names and specialties and skills from you. If you are Fleet already I'd appreciate any help you all can give me. I that a lot of you are Scorpion personnel and we appreciate any help you can give us."

Lauren wandered over to the Captain and tried to look helpful. He glanced at her and then down at the pipe still in her hand which she sheepishly laid down behind him on the box he was leaning against. He smiled at her and reached for her arm, "A word please?"

Lauren nodded and they walked across the deck towards one of the Vipers that had been recently locked down. "What's on your mind Captain?"

"Are you Fleet?" When Lauren nodded his smile broadened. "Wonderful, then I'm not going to have beg for your assistance." This got a chuckle from Lauren.

"I was going to ask you if you needed some help sorting them out. Lauren Baker by the way," she said holding her hand out.

"I'd appreciate any help you could give me….um?"

"Lieutenant."

"Thank you. You seem to be pretty comfortable with these people. Would you mind taking the non fleet personnel and getting their info? Please?"

"Sure thing Captain," she gave him a little salute and went to look for another clipboard and some paper. When she returned he'd already formed everyone up into two groups. She wandered over to the group that wasn't in front of him and looked at the tall blonde man who'd sounded like he was in charge before.

After about an hour her hand was tired of writing but she was satisfied with the progress she'd made. She had only about 15 people left to talk too when Captain Taylor came back over and looked over her list. "Is that what you were looking for sir?"

"Yes Lieutenant, great job. If you don't mind finishing up down here I'm going to go check on a sit rep and I'll be back in a bit okay?"

"Sounds good to me sir." Her smile assured him that she was going to take care of the situation down here.

When Taylor returned to the flight deck he walked over to Lauren and motioned for her to follow him to the small office the deck chief had. Once he'd shut the door his face fell into a scowl. "Baker right? Baker, we've got a big problem. Scuttlebutt up by CIC says that the Cylons have attacked in force. There's reports of nukes all over the place. We've basically just been obliterated as a species." He raked his hand through his dark brown hair as he began pacing the small room.

"What's the plan sir?"

"Well there's not much of a plan right now. The Admiral is waiting on more news from the wireless and the lists of personnel aboard." He took the clipboard from Lauren and flipped through the lists of specialties on them. "Good, we've still got pilots. Won't do us any good to have all these Vipers with no one to fly them. Wait…you're a pilot too?"

"Yes sir. Qualified in all Vipers, Raptors and heavy transports."

"Good, that's good. I think your career as an electrician just came to a halt. Sorry I've been so brief with you but you can imagine the chaos going on around here. So if you're Fleet what are you doing on an overhaul team?"

"Well that's a long story but I've been working for Admiral Gataki for a while. You know about the strike right?" he nodded. "Well I was called in because he knew the _Pegasus_ was coming in and he was short staffed. He needed reliable people so he called in favors. I owed him one so here I am."

"So you're one of those in demand multi-functional people huh?"

Lauren laughed at his sarcasm. "I suppose. I've been working electrical for a while now but I'd prefer to fly. So I combine it and work electrical on Vipers. Gotta do test flights ya know."

Taylor's grin warmed her. "Well I think if the Admiral has her way you'll be doing a lot more flying real soon. She's planning on jumping back to Caprica to see what's going on. We're going to need pilots to man these birds."

"Can you give me a real sit rep Captain? We've been in the dark down here since this started and I was actually on the station so I'm doubly blind."

"Sure, and it's Cole by the way. Well, we were all about to head out. Most of us under Colonel were headed dirtside for various bases but the Admiral was headed home for three months. Luckily she hadn't quite left yet. Most of the pilots are already gone but we've still got a decent number up there. About a third of the engineering staff is from Scorpion so we're covered but I'm pretty sure that the place is gonna get crazy when they figure out what is really going on."

"So the Admiral's planning on fighting back right?"

"Yup. She's a hard woman and she's not about to take this laying down. She's planning on jumping back there guns blazing and we're going to need all the trigger fingers we can get. Do you think you can get a handle on the stuff happening down here and get the Vipers ready to go? Everything on the Starboard side is locked down and in storage since we weren't going to need them. If you can just get this side organized or at least find someone to be in charge that's a good start."

Lauren gulped a bit at the idea of jumping back and actually taking on the Cylons without a real crew but if the Admiral said fight, then she'd fight. "Sure, I can handle that. The Vipers aren't a problem it's getting the crew together, and I'm pretty sure I can whip them into shape. Can I use the pipe?"

Taylor actually laughed at the joke, a merry twinkle of mischief in his hazel eyes. "I suppose you can, but don't beat them too much or they won't be able to work. Why don't you try to organize a bit and then come find me. We'll get you set up in a bunk for now and see if we can't get you some flight gear."


	6. Chapter 6

Lauren looked at the milling group of people on the flight deck and wondered how she was supposed to organize them into a cohesive crew. Figuring the best way was to be direct and not condescending she looked over the list of specialties on her clipboard and walked back to the group. Maybe if she got the Fleet personnel to help out with the crew it'd work out. She jumped up on the box that she'd been leaning on before and almost kicked her pipe back off it. She looked at the pipe and chuckled a bit.

"Hey everyone! Can I have your attention please?" After they'd turned to her and quieted down she realized that coming off as a Fleet honcho was probably not the best way to get these people to be sympathetic to her so she dropped the clipboard and put a smile on her face. "Okay folks, I'm not here to blow hot air up your skirts. The situation is bad and it's going to get worse. It has been confirmed that the Cylons are attacking the colonies in force. They are using nukes and apparently they are aiming for mass destruction."

She let that sink in a moment. "Most of you know that this ship is currently very understaffed. What staff we do have here is being led by Admiral Cain who had not left for leave yet. She is a very capable leader and if anyone can get us through this mess in one piece she can. So in order for us to find out exactly what is going on dirtside, we need to go back to Caprica. Admiral Cain feels that if that happens we will be attacked by the Cylons so we need to get these Vipers in the air to defend ourselves. So that means that the task of getting them ready is up to us. I know you all can do this and I need your help to make it work. Can I count on you?"

The loud cheer that rose from the group told her everything she wanted to know. "Okay then, everybody that is regularly assigned as deck crew I need you to lead everyone else. There aren't a full staff of pilots on board anymore but the ones we do have are ready to go kick some Cylon ass!"

Lauren left the operations on the deck to the tall blonde haired man who's name was Peterson and went looking for Captain Taylor. She found him outside CIC and he motioned her over to his side. Lauren surveyed the group of people he was speaking to and realized with a start that Admiral Cain was one of them.

"So when we get there, we've got almost four full squadrons worth of pilots left. The batteries are armed and ready and we should be able to pull the comm signals together pretty quickly." This came from a stern looking man who was apparently the XO.

"Very good Colonel. Captain Taylor what have you got for me?" Cain asked turning to face them.

"Well as Colonel Sanders said, the pilots are ready to go. This is Lieutenant Baker sir and she's been organizing the flight deck for us. Perhaps she can shed some light on that situation."

Lauren saluted the Admiral and the XO and cleared her throat. "Sirs, the flight deck was severely understaffed. Most of the crew down there is from Scorpion but they are pulling together nicely and your Vipers will be ready to go."

"Very good Lieutenant. You're not one of mine are you?"

"No sir. I'm from Scorpion."

"The lieutenant is also a pilot Sir," Taylor added. "I think she'll be of great assistance to us."

"Right. Good initiative there Lieutenant. I'd like you to aid Captain Taylor in the attack. You've obviously got a good head on your shoulders and I can use good people. Carry on." The Admiral's praise was welcomed but it didn't quite make Lauren feel as good as it should. She saluted the group and turned to leave. Taylor saluted and turned to follow her but the Admiral stopped him. "Captain Taylor, you are now my CAG by the way. Congratulations."

"Thank you sir!" he grinned and saluted her again.


	7. Chapter 7

Taylor pulled Lauren into a conference room and began laying out plans for the defense of the ship and the steps they could take to destroy as many Cylons as they could. Lauren was impressed with his capability to make it all look so easy, but then again she'd never been in a combat situation before. When they'd hammered out a decent strategy he took her down to the living quarters and began looking for an empty rack for her. They'd searched through several of the lockers looking for a suitable set of casual clothes for her and found quite a stash of tanks and sweats that would work.

Once that was accomplished Taylor led her to the officer's rack and pushed a pile of towels off one of the bunks to give her a place to set her stuff down. "You can use this bunk for now. The guy it's assigned to is long gone." To emphasize his point the pulled the small name plate down and tossed it on the bench in the middle of the room. "I'll try to rustle you up a flight suit and helmet. I'm sure there are a few around there that would fit you. Why don't you get some rest?"

Lauren looked at him gratefully and climbed up to the bunk. She'd decided that a few minutes of peace and quiet wouldn't hurt and before she knew it she had fallen into a deep sleep.

Taylor wandered around for a while, finding that his pilots were still in a great deal of disorder so he decided to fix that issue as soon as he could. He thought about the feisty Lieutenant he'd just left and for some reason he started smiling uncontrollably. She was certainly a spitfire and he wondered if she'd be interested in him. It had been too long between romances for him and he was starting to feel the ache of loneliness. If this attack from the Cylons meant what he thought it did, he and everyone else around here might be even more lonely very soon.

Once pilots were settled down and he'd given them orders he went back to searching for flight gear for Lauren. She shouldn't be too hard to find a suit for, she was pretty average in size. He made his way down to one of the storage rooms and found exactly what he had been looking for. Gathering the items up he wandered back up to the rack room he'd left her in and found her fast asleep on the bunk. Smiling at her he put the gear on the bench and wandered off searching for something to do.

Lauren woke up an hour later, feeling much better than she had in a while. She looked around the rack room and found the pile of clothes that Taylor had retrieved for her. She'd probably better get ready for the trip back to Caprica she thought as she hopped down off the bunk and began changing into her flight suit. She had just pulled the suit up over her hips when Taylor walked into the room. A little gasp of surprise escaped from his lips and she grinned at him.

"Thanks for the suit, and even more so, thanks for the nap. I was about to drop there."

"Not a problem. I was just coming to get you anyway. Um…we're going to have a pre flight in the port ready room in half an hour. If you're ready to go I'll show you the way down there."

Lauren wrapped the arms of her flight suit around her waist as most of the pilots did when they were on the ground and she reached for her helmet. "Thanks for all the help Cole, you've been really great." She turned back to him and noticed he was running his eyes up and down her body, his mouth hung open a bit. She knew exactly what was going on in his head and she walked purposefully over to him, reached up and pushed his jaw closed. "You're almost drooling there Cole. You might want to watch that."

He realized what he'd been doing and visibly snapped out of his daze. "Sorry, we don't usually have a lot of women on board. Shall we?" He wandered out of the room without waiting for her.

The pilot's ready room was filled to capacity and Lauren couldn't see a seat so she leaned against the side wall. Scanning the group of pilots she noticed that she was among only a small handful of women. Cole worked his way through the group to the podium at the front of the room.

"All right people settle down. The admiral will be here in a few minutes and I want you all acting like you understand orders. Admiral Cain has made me the acting CAG so you're answering to me now. You all know pretty much what's happened today and you know what we intend to do. I will not lie to you. We are very short handed. We have about half the pilots we usually have on board and some of them are actually people from Scorpion that are Viper qualified. For example, Lieutenant Lauren Baker over there has been kind enough to whip the deck crew into shape so we'll actually have some working ships to fly. She's going to be in a Viper with us so I'll assign her to one of the groups later."

"Attention on deck!"

Admiral Cain walked in from the back of the room. The air of superiority she exuded was almost unbearable. She strutted to the podium and looked around the room at her pilots. "At ease. You know what the situation is so I won't waste your time. We will be jumping back to Caprica in about an hour. Our goal is to retrieve information about the status of the colonies and to take out as many hostiles as possible. If there are any other Colonial forces in the area we will aid them in any attack that is currently underway and assist in any clean up or rescue missions. As far as we know right now, we are the only remaining Battlestar in space. We know that Scorpion yard took severe damage in the attack and we are unable to contact anyone in the colonies for more information or orders. This ship is fully armed and highly motivated so I can see no reason that we will not succeed. I'm counting on you and the fleet is counting on you. Good hunting!"

One the Admiral had left the room Cole returned to the podium and started handing out assignments. Lauren was paired with a tall man with brown hair and a grin that made her giggle. He shook her hand and introduced himself as Lieutenant David Carson. "My call sign is Thumper by the way." he said as the walked to the flight deck.

"Um I don't really have a call sign anymore. It's been so long since I've been considered a pilot. I guess you're just gonna have to call me Baker for now."

"Well we'll work on something snappy after we get home okay?"

Once they reached the flight deck Lauren was directed to a Viper that was powered up and ready for her. She smiled when she saw Sarah jogging to her with a neck ring and a pair of gloves. "I thought you'd need these sir and apparently I'm supposed to get you settled in."

"Sir huh? Yup, you're fitting in just fine."

Sarah grinned at Lauren as she got settled into the cockpit of the fighter. The jump alarm sounded and Lauren looked at Sarah who was still smiling, even though her eyes were closed. The shift of the jump made everyone wobble a bit but they recovered quick enough, the first in the line of Vipers locking into the Mag cats. Sarah locked the bubble of Lauren's Viper down and mouthed "Go kick some ass" to Lauren as her Viper was wheeled forward.


	8. Chapter 8

When the _Pegasus_ jumped into the space surrounding Caprica they found a fight. The Vipers launched and began tearing into the Cylon raiders that were as thick as glue around the planet. Explosions lit the blackness of the area as ship after ship was shot down. Orders flew non stop over the comm but despite the chaos of it all they managed to actually work as a team. When the order came for the pilots to return to the ship the sigh of relief was almost audible.

Lauren's Viper had been hit by so much debris that she could barely see out the bubble so when she landed it was rough. She popped the canopy as soon as she could and started looking around to see who was left. She was surprised at how few faces she recognized. Once she'd climbed down from the cockpit she noticed several group of people celebrating their kills and bragging about how many of the Cylon's they'd shot down. Lauren was just lucky to still be alive.

Cole noticed her and headed for where she was standing. He came up to stand beside her as Thumper was loping over. "Glad to see you back in one piece," Taylor said to her.

"Did you get a load of little missy's flying here Cap?"

Taylor shook his head no and Thumper continued to gush. "She flew like a demon sir! Must have taken out 20 Raiders without breaking a sweat. In fact, that's a damn good call sign for ya Baker. How bout we call you Demon from now on?"

"Uh…can we think of something a little less…testosterone laden?"

Taylor grinned at Thumper, "Nah, I think it fits."

Lauren rolled her eyes at them as they made their way back to the ready room. The comm system crackled to life and Admiral Cain's voice filtered down from the ceiling. "This is the Admiral speaking. I want to thank you all for your effort. We have determined the extent of the damages from the Cylon attack. The…the destruction of the colonies is nearly total." The Admiral's voice broke as she spoke, showing them all how horrible the devastation actually was. "We seem to be the only ship left at this point. We are currently in orbit around Tauron's moon but it's not safe to stay here so we will be heading for the munitions dump to re-supply ourselves. After that we will make a decision on where we go from there. That is all."

The reality of their situation settled into the people on the flight deck and several of them could be heard sobbing loudly. Taylor looked at Lauren who stood stunned at the news. "Are you all right?" he asked, laying his hand on her shoulder.

"I…Oh Gods!" She couldn't take it anymore and she bolted for the hatch. She ran through the hallways blindly until she ended up in a crumpled heap by a hatch tears streaming down her face. The implication of the attack had finally hit her and she wondered if any of her friends or family were still alive. She sat there silently praying to any of the Gods that would listen to protect her family.

Taylor found her there still in tears and he slid down the wall to sit beside her. "I'm sorry Lauren. I wish there was something I could do to help."

"Thanks Cole, I just…it all kinda hit me at once. It's so hard to believe. My family, my little sister…Gods, Lee."

Cole looked at her questioningly. "I take it he was close to you?"

Lauren nodded, fresh tears coming to her eyes. She needed someone to comfort her and Cole saw that need so he pulled her into a hug and let her pull strength from him. They sat there for a long time, simply comforting each other. When Lauren had cried herself out she wiped her face and smiled at him.

"Thanks Cole. Seriously, I needed that. I'm okay now."

"Are you sure? I'm here if you want to talk about it."

"Actually, what I need right now is a hot shower and something to eat. Not that I think I can eat but I should try."

"Well let me show you the way my friend," he joked as she rose from the floor and held his hand out to help her up.

The next morning they reached the munitions base and docked to begin to pull various weapons from the stores. They were about halfway done when the Dradis indicated incoming ships. The alert was sounded and the pilots all ran for the flight deck. Suddenly the alarms stopped and the comm system announced that the contacts were Colonial. A loud cheer rang through the ship as the meaning of that announcement settled in. If there were Colonial ships around then there were possibly other survivors too and there may be hope for everyone's loved ones.

The three ships were identified as a freight hauler, a passenger carrier and a merchant vessel. All three docked with the munitions station and the captains rushed to meet with the Admiral and her staff. The were mainly unarmed ships so any Fleet presence would be an asset to them and necessary for their surviival.

At some point the decision was made to leave the system and search for more survivors headed out of the system to safety. Lauren and Cole were on the flight deck when a message came down from the Admiral for them to report to a conference room up by CIC. Lauren looked questioningly at Cole who shrugged and led the way.

When they reached the conference they learned that the civilians had been trying to find any kind of protection they could. The merchant captain had suggested looking at the munitions dumps and the rest had followed. Along the way they picked up a small four person shuttle that had been stranded during the battle. The shuttle crew reported that they had received a message over the wireless from the _Battlestar_ _Galactica _and from the acting President advising them to come to the Ragnar Anchorage station. The Admiral was still set on finding out if more survivors were about and she thanked the three captains and dismissed them.

"All right people, this is what I see. We've got armaments enough for three Battlestars now and the Cylons are still hanging around out there. We can either run or fight and my vote is for fight. Does anyone disagree?" She looked around the table at the crew she'd assembled. Some of them were paler than others but no one questioned the Admiral's decision. "Good, then this is the plan."


	9. Chapter 9

What eventually happened was that the _Pegasus_ sent the civilian ships on ahead of them to look for more survivors. Cain ordered that the Battlestar jump back to Caprica once again to look for more information and any survivors. When they arrived in orbit of the capital planet they found nothing but debris. Three Raptors were sent down to the surface for any intel and the small bit they found showed that the human population on the surface was simply gone.

More Raptors were sent out to scout around the rest of the system and the results were the same everywhere. No signs of life. No survivors. No hope.

Cain wearily recalled the Raptors and ordered the _Pegasus_ out of the system to catch up with the civilians. When they found the civvies there were now eight ships as the original small group had found others along the way. Admiral Cain had decided that the Cylons were most likely following the same rendevous signal they were so there would be another chance to catch them and fight once more. She apparently had decided that revenge was going to be her course of action and very few on the ship disagreed with her.

Two days out from Ragnar station Cain ordered two Raptors to jump ahead and report back on enemy presence. Meanwhile the solemn knowledge of so many lives lost was hanging heavily over the ship. Some people mourned silently while others couldn't stop crying. All around the ship people would simply embrace each other to reassure themselves that they were not alone.

When the Raptors returned they reported a massive Cylon fleet floating around the gas cloud that enveloped Ragnar station. Cain decided to jump in on their tails and hit them as hard as they could before they received too much damage then jump back out to safety. Once more the pilots readied themselves for the fight and Lauren found herself sliding into her Viper. When they reverted to real space, the Vipers launched and the battle began.

When they were recalled they landed as quickly as they could so the ship could jump to safety. Lauren sat in her cockpit for a few minutes listening to the rejoicing around her. She couldn't comprehend how they felt that there was a reason to rejoice when so many lives had been lost. Sighing wearily she pulled herself out of the Viper and joined the others, pasting a forced smile on her lips.

At the situation meeting later they learned that they had inflicted serious damages on one of the basestars but that the Colonial ships had jumped to safety as soon as they exited the nebula. Admiral Cain once more stressed the plan of chasing the Cylons and inflicting as much damage to them as they could.

Life settled into a routine on the _Pegasus_, everyone finding their niche in the workings of the big ship. The flight deck was now running smoothly under Specialist Peterson's care. The man had been conscripted along with the rest of the crew from Scorpion and they seemed to be happy with their jobs. Lauren visited the deck several times to check up on Sarah who was apparently impressing several of the others in the crew with the ease she learned new tasks. They soon became friends and Lauren would often search out the younger woman for company.

She also spent time with Thena from the comm staff. They found themselves being the rock the other needed as they worked through their grief. Lauren also found a friend and a confidant in Cole. They spent long hours talking over anything and nothing, just making each other laugh. Lauren was surprised when Cole recommended to the Admiral that she be promoted and bumped up the chain of command. The Admiral agreed and Lauren soon found herself as Cole's right hand.

Three weeks after they left Ragnar station the _Pegasus'_ Raptor patrols found a Cylon outpost. Admiral Cain naturally began preparing a strike against it and Lauren found herself in on the planning sessions. After the final session the Admiral asked Lauren to stay behind.

"Captain Baker I have a proposition for you."

"Sir?"

"I'm going to divide the Viper squadrons into two shifts so that we have one on duty and one off at all times. Of course we can scramble the second shift if we need it or if we are planning an attack but I think this will assist in the morale in the men. Do you agree?"

"Yes sir, it sounds like a fine idea."

"Good, then I'm putting you in charge of one of the shifts."

"Sir? Me sir?"

"You Captain. You've shown a great deal of initiative since the attack and that reminds me of myself. Captain Taylor speaks very highly of you as do several of the flight crew and other pilots. I think you'll be the idea choice to head the second shift. You'll still be reporting to Captain Taylor but your shift will report to you. I'm also going to open up the starboard flight pod. We've got 48 more Vipers over there in storage and they will be needed pretty soon if my reports are correct. I'm putting you in charge of that operation Captain and that will be your side of the ship once it's up and running. Can you handle all of this?"

"Yes sir I can. Thank you sir."

"Very good Captain, make me proud. Dismissed."

Lauren saluted the Admiral and left the room, pausing to lean against the wall outside to catch her breath and figure out if that had been real or not. She walked in a daze back to her quarters where she fell heavily on the bench in the middle of the room. A few minutes later Cole walked in and wondered what she was staring off into space for.

"Lauren? Are you all right?"

"Huh? Yeah I'm fine. Do you know what just happened?"

"Yeah, I do. You deserve it you know," he said as he sat next to her on the bench. "You're a damn good pilot and a good organizer. I know you're going to do fine. Plus I'll help you out as much as I can okay?"

The enormity of what was happening to her hit Lauren like a tidal wave and she lost control of her emotions once again. Cole pulled her into a warm hug and let her cry. He found his hands stroking her soft hair and he leaned down to see if it smelled as good as it looked. The warmth of her body made him tingle and he wanted desperately to kiss her but he knew she was still grieving for the man she'd lost. He could be patient though and with that in mind he settled in against her.


	10. Chapter 10

The plans had been made for the attack and the Vipers were read to launch as soon as the signal was given. The station they were attacking looked like a comm relay so it would be an easy target. Only one squadron of Vipers was going on the mission and the anticipation was contagious on the deck.

The _Pegasus _reverted to real space just outside of possible missile range and the launch order was given. Lauren was thrown back against her seat as the Mag cat hurled her down the launch tube. The squadron formed up and headed for the base.

Suddenly Cylon raiders exploded out or the base like a swarm of locusts. Lauren relayed the information and screamed for the alert fighters to scramble. CIC requested a count of the raiders and Lauren responded with an estimate of fifteen squadrons. She was screaming for reinforcements when they engaged the cloud of Raiders.

On the bridge of the _Pegasus_ chaos was prevalent. Admiral Cain was shouting orders at the crew and they were following them as best they could but they simply weren't used to this kind of a battle situation.

"Colonel I want a full battery attack on that base."

"Admiral I don't think that's a good idea sir. I think we should run for it."

"Colonel you will attack that base as I ordered."

"Sir, I protest, it's a bad move. We need to get out of here before we lose any more people."

Cain held her hand out to Sanders, a scowl on her face. "Colonel your side arm please."

"Sir?"

"Your sidearm Colonel. Now."

He slowly slid the revolver out of his holster and handed it to her butt first. She took it from him, clicked the safety off and fired it at his head. The CIC crew stared at the Colonel as he fell to the floor dead.

"Colonel Fisk, you are now the XO of this ship." She placed the revolver on the map table in front of her and resumed the coordination of the attack. "Colonel Fisk you have your orders." She looked at him to see if he was going to follow the orders or if she was going to have to deal with him as well.

"Sir!" he yelped and turned to the tactical officer. "You have your orders Lieutenant."

Cain smiled grimly at him. "Someone clean this mess up!"

The Vipers were recalled and the ship jumped to safety but not before they suffered heavy losses. Lauren took stock of the pilots she'd watched die when she returned to the deck. The numbers were overwhelming. They'd all lost so much in so little time there was just no sense to it all. She pushed off the crew that was milling around her and she ran to her small office, locking the door behind her. Looking around her small room she couldn't decide if she wanted to scream or cry or both.

She decided that the outlet she needed was to beat her fists upon the walls which she did until she was bleeding and sore. Then she collapsed into a fetal ball on the floor and cried for all of the pain she felt. She cried for her mother who's always been so loving and her baby sister who had just gotten engaged. Her father who was finally retiring after working so hard for so long.

But mostly she cried for Lee. She'd loved him more than life itself and now he was gone in a heart beat. She'd been avoiding thinking about how much it wrecked her to know that he wasn't going to ever walk through her door again. They'd had such an amazing relationship, laughing and loving and being so happy just living day to day. She'd never loved anyone as much as she loved him and now the empty spot in her heart felt like her soul had been ripped out.

An agonizing shriek ripped from her lungs and with it went all of the frustration she'd felt, the heartache, the pain, the sense of utter loss. She lay there sobbing and didn't notice when the lock to the door slid back and it opened slowly. Cole peeked his head around the door and was upset when he saw Lauren laying in a ball on the floor. He'd been passing by when he heard her scream and he was worried so he used his pass code to unlock the door.

He wasn't sure what to do but it seemed best to make sure she wasn't actually hurt. So he knelt beside her and scooped her up in his arms. She struggled a bit against him and he fell over onto the floor. When he pulled her back up into his lap he noticed that her hands were bleeding and he looked up to see bloody trails down the wall where she had beat against it.

Lauren wrapped her arms around Cole, burying her face in his chest as she cried. He couldn't do anything for her and he felt helpless as he pulled his arms up around her shoulders and stroked her back to calm her down. She wept against him for several more minutes and when she began choking back her sobs he looked down at her.

"Are you all right Lauren? No, of course you're not all right. That's stupid of me isn't it? Gods but I wish there was something I could do for you. I feel so helpless."

She regained a bit of her control and she looked up at him, tears still staining her cheeks. "I'm….I'm sorry Cole. I shouldn't be like this."

"We really ought to go get your hands cleaned up you know."

She looked down at the blood on her knuckles and she laughed through a sob. "I am kind of a mess aren't I?"

"Yeah but you're a beautiful mess."

That startled her a bit and she sat up suddenly. She wiped her face some more with the heels of her hands and then she looked at him, questioning that statement.

He rose from the floor and turned his back on her. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said that." A shiver ran through him like a wave and he turned back, his face carefully bank and offered her a hand to help her up from the floor. She reached up and took his hand and when he pulled her to her feet she lost her balance a bit and fell against him. As he caught her he couldn't fight it any more and he leaned over and kissed her gently.


	11. Chapter 11

Ch 11

Lauren was shocked by his brazeness and she planted her hands on his chest and pushed him away. "What the frak?"

"Oh frak! Lauren I'm so sorry! Please forgive me I wasn't thinking. Oh frak." He knew what a fool he'd just made of himself so he turned and stormed out the door.

Lauren wasn't sure if she should chase after him or not so she made the decision to go get her hands cleaned up first and try to mull over what had just happened. She liked Cole well enough but she wasn't attracted to him romantically. Seeing as how she had just done major damage to her wall and her hands over the sense of loss she felt for Lee it didn't seem right to even entertain the thought of falling for someone else. Besides, no one could ever replace Lee in her heart.

She made her way to the nearest head and washed her hands as best she could. She was just turning the water off when Sarah came in and gasped at the state she was in. The younger woman rushed over and grabbed Lauren's hands which had mostly stopped bleeding by now and looked at them critically.

"What did you do?" she asked as she grabbed a towel and started dabbing at the knuckles.

"I…uh…I kinda had an argument with a wall," Lauren laughed.

"Well better a wall than a person. Did you show it who's boss?"

"Yeah, _it_ is!" Lauren sat patiently on the bench as Sarah went to grab supplies from the med kit on the wall. The younger woman came back and dressed Lauren's hands gently but professionally. "You've got some practice in doing this huh?"

"Three older brothers that were always getting into some sort of trouble. Mom wasn't always around so I got to play nurse a lot. I guess it sticks with you after a while huh? So you want to talk about it or are you over it now?"

Lauren thought about it for a moment and decided it was probably best not to tell anyone about Cole kissing her. It had been a mistake and they could move past it. "It's just been a hell of a bad day."

"Yes it has. Did you hear about the XO?"

"Sanders? No what happened?"

Sarah threw the trash from the dressings away and went to the sink to wash her hands. "Cain shot him for not following and order," she said quietly.

"What? She did what?" Lauren hopped up from the bench in disbelief.

"She gave him an order and he wouldn't obey it so she shot him." Sarah's eyes showed the truth of the statement and the sadness that someone could actually do such a thing.

"Is he okay?"

Sarah couldn't speak any more but she shook her head no. Lauren's shock was apparent as she looked at the other woman wanting desperately for her to say it wasn't true. Needing to know for herself Lauren left the room and headed for CIC.

When she got there they were just wheeling the body bag out on a stretcher. Lauren flattened herself against the wall and gaped as the medics rolled the body past her. The horror of what had happened in there showed on the medics faces and the repercussions of the act hung in the air. She struggled to make sense of the whole thing and found she couldn't so she slowly walked back to her rack room. Hearing Cole's voice inside she turned away from the hatch. There was no way she could face him after what had happened. Needing desperately to be alone and think things through she found herself wandering aimlessly around the halls of the ship. Eventually, she ended up in the starboard flight deck and she figured it would make her feel better if she got to work on reawakening one of the Vipers that was stored there.

Thena found her laying under a Viper almost six hours later. The communications officer had been looking for Lauren for most of an hour and she heaved a loud sigh of relief when she found her friend. "There you are!"

Lauren jumped when Thena spoke and almost smacked her head on the underbelly of the ship. She rolled herself out from under it and grinned up at Thena. "So you're the search party huh?"

Thena nodded and bent over to look at the progress Lauren was making on the Viper. "You've been down here all night you know. Might be time for a break. Wow!" she exclaimed as she looked down the row of Vipers that were now operational. "You've done all these already?"

Lauren nodded and reached for a rag to wipe the grease from her hands. "I needed something to take my mind off things. But right now I think that I'm starving and I really need to get a drink. How about you?"

"Sounds like a great idea."


	12. Chapter 12

Time began to pass quickly for Lauren after that. She'd gotten into the habit of retreating to the starboard flight deck whenever she wanted to escape from Cole or any other problems. Within days the entire compliment of Vipers over there was ready for action. She'd found several of the flight crew on the Port side that were happy to come help her, including Sarah. Specialist Peterson had recommended a deck chief to her and she and Specialist Mikos were rapidly becoming a team.

Sander's shooting was still hanging over the entire crew and everyone was treading carefully. The military precision and 'by the book' factor was amped up and Lauren found herself saluting more in a week than she had in a year previously. That also meant that she was on her best behavior which led to the Admiral taking even more notice of her. Unfortunately that also meant that she was soon finding herself giving orders that she didn't like.

The attentiveness of the Admiral coupled with the frequent hit and run attacks on the Cylons were stressful on everyone and tempers soon wore thin. Lauren found herself needing an outlet for her frustration and anger and now that all of the Vipers on her deck were operational she turned to the gym for a release. Because the pilots were now split into two shifts she had several hours a day of free time when they were not actively attacking the Cylons.

Thena and Sarah both joined her and they three of them encouraged each other to push themselves farther and farther. They were in the gym one afternoon when the gossip came rolling through that a Cylon infiltrator had been found on board. The crew was exceptionally hostile to the news and Lauren was afraid that a lynch mob would form. The Admiral put a quick halt to the violent talk and stowed the Cylon in the brig. Several days later the scuttlebutt was that Lt. Thorne had begun interrogating the prisoner. Lauren asked around about the Lieutenant as she had not been a member of the crew and didn't know who he was. What she found out shocked her and she was even more horrified when word began filtering around exactly how Thorne was 'interrogating' the prisoner. Even more disturbing were the screams that began echoing through the halls.

Two days later Lauren overheard a few of the deck crew discussing the fact that Lt. Thorne had invited several of the guards into the brig to 'take liberty' with the prisoner. Not believing that the Admiral would allow such a thing on her ship Lauren went and asked Cain about what she'd heard. The answer she received terrified her.

The Admiral had indeed allowed the torture and rape of the prisoner and she seemed to take pleasure in the fact that she was inflicting such pain on one of the 'things' that had hurt her. Lauren knew that if this was allowed to continue that the situation would rapidly become more violent on the ship. The crew was already primarily male and several of the female crew members had already been harassed by the men.

Lauren soon found herself getting propositioned by the males of the crew and time and again she made her strong 'no' clear. Thena had paired up with one of the guys from the flight crew so she was not harassed as much anymore but Sarah was decidedly easy pickings. The harassment she received was escalating to the point that she wouldn't go anywhere on the ship with out another woman. Then the unthinkable happened and Sarah was raped one night.

Lauren had been on duty when Sarah headed for her rack. Mikos was the one that told her about it. Sarah had been forcefully dragged from her bunk by a drunken Marine and raped brutally. Lauren found her bloody and bruised in the sick bay and the state her friend was in infuriated her to the point of demanding the Admiral put a stop to the men's advances. The Admiral said she'd do what she could about it but Lauren knew that it wouldn't stop.

Two weeks later the Admiral made a decision that shocked the entire crew. She announced that she was going to strip the civilian ship and leave them behind. Her reasoning was that the extra ships were hard to defend and she couldn't waste the resources on them any longer if they were going to make an effective series of attacks against the Cylons. Every attack so far had involved locating a safe haven for the unarmed civilian ships to stay at while the _Pegasus_ jumped into a known hostile territory and attacked. When they jumped back out they would make two small jumps to make sure they weren't being followed back to the civilians. This, she reasoned, was wasting precious fuel and taking more time than was necessary.

She was reasonable enough to make an offer to the civilians that if they wished to be conscripted and serve aboard the _Pegasus _she would take them on but anyone else was on their own. The backlash of this decision was fierce but there was no swaying of the Admiral once she'd set her mind to something. The civilians actually tried to defend themselves when the crew came to collect any supplies or parts that would aid the military effort. When faced with armed Marines most of the civilians gave in and some even accepted the conscription offer.

Once the civilian ships had been left behind the crew found themselves in a state of despair and anger. Lauren found more and more people were making use of the gym and it pleased her that they were working their frustrations off constructively instead of violently. Although, there was plenty of room for violence as well. Most of that was taken out on the Cylons however and she noticed the kill counts edging higher and higher as the pilots became more and more angry at their situation. Cain had sent down an order previously to begin keeping track of the kills each pilot had. She said it increased morale and developed a sense of competitiveness among the pilots. Lauren thought it just increased the bloodlust. However, she would not argue the Admiral's orders and she soon found herself with a long string of little Cylon Raiders painted under her canopy.

One of the civilians that was taken on from the ships left behind was a man named Peter Laird. He was an aeronautical engineer and he soon found himself being made the main deck chief. Lauren soon made friends with the man because he had a great sense of humor, despite what an ordeal he'd been through. He also had an amazing work ethic and an exceptionally impressive knowledge of all things mechanical.


	13. Chapter 13

Life aboard the _Pegasus_ once more slipped into a routine. Attacks against the Cylons were beginning to be almost predictable and Lauren soon found herself treating the situation like any other part of her job. She visited Sarah in the sick bay while she healed and tried desperately to cheer the younger woman up but nothing was working. When Sarah returned to the flight bay she latched onto Mikos and was never far from his sight. Apparently he'd been visiting her in the sick bay as well and they'd developed an odd sort of friendship.

Sarah once more started accompanying Lauren to the gym, vowing that no one would ever be able to hurt her like that again. Lauren was pleased with Sarah's recovery and she was happy to be able to help. They were in the gym one afternoon when Mikos came to find Sarah. "We're going to head for the mess and then maybe a card game, you in?"

"Nah, I don't feel like I'm done yet. I'll stick around for a while." She smiled at them as they walked out, Mikos' arm draped casually over Sarah's shoulders. When she turned back to the machine she was working on she pushed herself until she was near exhaustion. She sat on a bench with a towel around her neck, leaning against the cool metal wall. When she felt like she'd rested enough she got up and went to a bench press and lay down. The hatch opening drew her attention to a burly man walking in and she nodded at him and returned her attention to the weights.

Suddenly the man was standing over her, lifting the bar up. "Need a spotter?" he asked with a grin.

"Sure, thanks." she took the weight of the bar and lowered it slowly to her chest, then pushed it back up into his waiting hands. She looked up as the bar was lifted up and realized that he was leering at her. Something about that didn't feel right to Lauren but she pushed it out of her mind as he let the bar back down into her hands. She did another 12 reps and then nodded to him that she was done. She rose from the bench and grabbed her towel and bottle of water. Taking a swig of the water she mopped her forehead and headed for the door.

"Leaving already?" he said as he followed her across the room, leering at her more.

"Yeah, I think I'm done for the day," she said not turning to look at him.

"Oh I'm just getting started, I think you should stick around." He leaned himself against the hatch, blocking her exit. "Besides, I'd really like to get to know you better if you know what I mean."

"I think I do know what you mean and I'm gonna have to pass." Lauren backed away from him but he followed her. She backed herself into a rack of weights and he closed in on her. She sidestepped the weight rack and skipped out of his grasp, sliding around a rowing machine. Unfortunately he was anticipating that and he chased her, throwing his arms around her, pinning her arms to her sides and stopping her retreat.

"Now now darling. What's your hurry? I just want to get to know you," he growled as he leaned down and licked her neck bringing a shudder of revulsion to her. Her struggling only made him hold on that much tighter so Lauren began to relax. This seemed to make him happier and he chuckled a bit thinking she was relenting.

Lauren searched her brain for a way to get herself out of this mess. The last thing she wanted to happen was for her to end up like Sarah in the sick bay. Finally the big oaf relaxed his grip on her and leaned back a little, running his hands up under her tanks towards her chest. Lauren took that opportunity to slam her elbow back into his ribs as hard as she could. Then she reached for one of the free weights on the rack in front of her and she turned on him threateningly. He'd doubled over in pain from the elbow and the look of anger in his eyes drained out as he saw the weight in her hand.

"I said no! I meant no! Get it through your fat head," she growled at him. Just then the hatch opened up and two of Lauren's deck crew walked in.

"Is anything wrong Captain?" one of them asked looking concerned at what was happening.

"No, we've just had a little disagreement haven't we?" she said, looking at her attacker with a sneer. "But we're all better now aren't we?"

He nodded at them, still bent over trying to catch his breath. Lauren walked over to him, weight still in hand and she pointedly dropped it on his foot and turned to walk out.


	14. Chapter 14

Lauren retreated to her rack after the weight room. She curled up into a ball on her bunk hugging herself and worrying over what could have happened to her. She needed to be more careful or one day her luck wouldn't be as good or there'd be more than one man after her.

Cole walked into the room a short time later and he looked at her, noting the look of fear on her face. "What happened?" he asked as he came to stand in front of her bunk.

"Nothing, don't worry about it."

"It's not nothing Lauren. I can tell by the look on your face. Now tell me what happened."

She closed her eyes and sighed. She really didn't want to involve Cole in this because of what had happened between them. But he did have a lot of pull around here so maybe he could put the word out that she was off limits. So she sat up on her bunk and looked down at him. Realizing that he wasn't going to let the subject drop she hopped down and sat on the lower bunk.

"I got, um…hit on. Hard. Okay, not really hit on, more like attacked."

"What? When did this happen?"

"A little while ago in the gym. I took care of it though, don't worry."

He pushed for details and when she told him the part about dropping the weight on his foot Cole broke out in laughter. Lauren couldn't help but join him as she remembered the big oaf's face when it hit his foot.

"Well, why don't you stay with someone you trust for a while okay? I'd hate it if something happened to you."

The story of how Lauren took on her attacker, who turned out to be one of the Marines on board ripped through the ship like wildfire. She got some attention she really didn't want from the story and suddenly men were bragging that she couldn't take them on and win. This worried both Lauren and Cole both, so Cole went to the Admiral to try to put an end to it. When he came back from his meeting he looked grim and wouldn't tell Lauren what had happened. He told her to go about her business and that he'd take care of it. Lauren wasn't sure what he meant by that but she trusted him enough to not worry however, she made sure she was never alone for the next several days.

Lauren went about her routine and thought nothing of what Cole had said until she began to notice people pointing at her and whispering. She tried several times to find out what the big deal was but no one would say anything to her. Finally one day she overheard two of the pilots in the ready room talking and her ears perked up when she heard her name. They hadn't seen her since she was behind them and she listened in.

"…but I still can't believe she'd hook up with him of all people. Baker's got to have more taste than that."

"Yeah well you heard about the guy that grabbed her in the gym. Maybe she's looking for someone to protect her. Taylor definitely could, he's got the pull around here."

"Yeah well so could I and I'm way better looking than Taylor is."

Lauren was shocked by this and she had to retreat to her office. She leaned back against the door trying to make sense of what she'd just heard. Was Cole actually telling people that they were together? She couldn't stand the curiosity so she marched across the ship and stormed into his office.

"What the frak are you telling people Cole?" she demanded.

He looked up from the stack of papers in front of him in question. "What are you talking about?"

"I just over heard Twister and Barrel talking about how I'd hooked up with you. Is this true? Is there something going on between us that I should know about Cole?" The anger in her voice made him lean back from her as she planted her hands on his desk and leaned in demanding answers.

"I…I," he stammered.

"You what? Tell me Cole, right now."

"I was worried about you after you got attacked. The Admiral won't point any fingers at any of the crew so I knew if I didn't do something it'd happen again and it would be much, much worse. I couldn't let that happen to you so I started telling people that you and I were an item. I figured that we spend enough time together just working that it would fly." He looked sheepishly at her and watched as her face went from angry to blank.

Lauren thought about what he'd said for a minute then said, "You did that to protect me?" Her jaw dropped in disbelief. "Why?"

"Because I care about you and I don't want to see you get hurt." Cole's face softened as he smiled at her.

She stammered a bit because she couldn't find words that made sense to her so she settled on, "Thank you."


	15. Chapter 15

Apparently Cole's plan worked pretty well because no one bothered her for several weeks. Thinking it would be best if she played along with Cole's plan she went out of her way to spend more time with him. They spent several nights simply talking in one office or the other, finally coming to an agreement about where they stood personally. Lauren explained her commitment to Lee, even if he was no longer alive and she stood by that commitment. Cole told her he respected the love she had for him. What he didn't say to her was that even though he still was attracted to her he would keep his distance until she decided the time was right to move on, hopefully to him.

After that she found it easier to be in his presence although he was steadily becoming more arrogant about his command. When she realized that it was due to Admiral Cain's constant pressure to attack the Cylons and destroy them she cut him a bit more slack. Especially after Cain began coming down on her as well. Apparently Lauren's squadrons didn't have as many kills as Cole's did so the Admiral began reassigning Lauren's shift on the attack cycles.

When the change of shifts happened Lauren found her kill count creeping higher and higher, much to the dismay of Chief Laird who was constantly having to repaint the kill markers on her Viper. Lauren suggested simply not doing it but it was one of the things the Admiral had ordered to incite competitiveness. So she relented and told Laird that she'd try to let the paint dry before she racked up more kills.

As she honed her skills in the cockpit she found herself becoming more arrogant about it and that fact bothered her. She didn't want to end up being like the Admiral but she could see no way to avoid it if she wanted to survive. Soon the Admiral was watching her like a hawk and praising the changes she saw. Lauren was sickened by the façade she had to present but if it kept a bullet out of her head she could manage it.

Four months had passed since the attack and the way of life that they had all slipped into was beginning to wear on them all. They were on a constant cycle of attack, jump, repair, seek, attack and soon the days bled into one another. There were only so many card games they could play and with no other source of entertainment around the tempers were once more wearing thin.

Colonel Fisk alleviated some of the tensions by cordoning off a section of the aft deck and building a Pyramid court. They searched all through the supply bins for something that could be used as a decent ball and one of the medical staff suggested making one out of a damaged flight suit. That fit their needs nicely and soon there were regular games running.

Lauren found herself on one of the teams that had formed and she enjoyed playing the game but was also a bit tired of the regular groping she received 'in the name of the game'. She paid most of them back with a sharp elbow or a knee in a painful area, also 'in the name of the game'.

She was walking back to her bunk one night after a game when she was grabbed from behind. Hands covered her eyes and her mouth and her struggling did her no good. She was carried into what she assumed was a storage area because she was shoved down on top of a crate. She heard two men talking in low voices, then one of them left the room. The hatch clanged shut and locked. Lauren had stopped struggling a while ago, hoping to once again lull her attacker into complacency. His hand was still pressed down over her eyes and was soon replaced with a cloth that he tied tightly around her head. Then he tied her hands behind her back and started chuckling to himself.

"Bet you thought you were safe huh chickie? Well Taylor isn't gonna protect you now. Nope, now you're mine. See he let it slip the other day that there really wasn't anything going on between you two so that means you're up for grabs. I tried to ask nicely but you turned me down so now we're gonna do this the hard way."

A chill as cold as deep space settled into Lauren's chest. How was she going to get herself out of this mess? The second guy was probably standing guard outside, no doubt also waiting his turn so there wasn't much hope of a timely intervention. She struggled against her bonds a bit and realized that whatever he'd tied her hands with wasn't as tight as it had been. She worked at it a bit more and soon got the cloth to the point where she could free herself but she kept her hands behind her so he wouldn't think anything was amiss.

She could hear his boots hitting the floor and his zipper being lowered. Waiting patiently for him to get close enough that she could attack him was difficult as her heart raced. When he finally reached for her shirts to pull them up over her head she released her hands and made a grab for where she though his throat would be with one hand and the blindfold with the other. Once she yanked the cloth off her head she was more than primed to defend herself. She'd just spent over an hour pummeling people on the Pyramid court and her team had lost so she was frustrated enough about that. Now this jackass pulled this stunt and her anger boiled over.

She flailed about with her legs, kicking him several times as hard as she could and she swung her fists at his head. She felt several of her punches connect and once she thought she heard a loud crack. As she swung she looked around for a weapon but she saw nothing but a bunch of boxes. Alright then, she'd just defend herself with what she had. Her beating him had made him move backwards to avoid her flying fists and feet so she rose up off the boxes and continued her assault.

Soon she had beaten him down on to the deck where she continued kicking him until he was bloody and begging for mercy. "How does it feel asshole? How do you feel to be the weaker one? Feels real good doesn't it?" She kicked him once more for good measure and spit on him to make her point. Then she walked to the door. When she hauled open the hatch she did indeed find the other man outside the door.

"You'd better get him to sick bay before he bleeds out." she snapped as she walked past the stunned man.


	16. Chapter 16

The man that had attacked her spent the next five days in the sick bay. Lauren had done quite a number on him and he wouldn't soon be attacking her again. Once he was released from the doctor's not so tender care he was sent to the brig. Lauren had marched directly from the storage room to the Admiral's quarters where she demanded to see Cain immediately. Etiquette flew out the window as Lauren recounted her attack and advised the Admiral that if action was not taken then she would personally castrate the man that attacked her.

The Admiral looked grim and said she'd take the matter in hand and that he would be properly punished. Then Lauren pushed the Admiral to crack down on that sort of behavior and threatened to beat down all of the men on the ship if she had to in order to get it to stop. Cain promised she'd do her best and dismissed her.

Lauren then went searching for Cole to let him know what had happened. The shock on his face was intense but he couldn't help smiling at the idea of Lauren beating this man to a pulp. He apologized profusely for letting the information that had led to the attack slip and he promised to make sure that no one would ever touch her inappropriately again.

Lauren forgave him after a large amount of feather ruffling and some minor bribery. When word got around the next day about how Lauren had beaten off the man that attacked her she found that the pilots in her squadron were treating her with a new respect. Thumper even made his way over from the port side deck to joke around with her about how she'd really earned that call sign he'd graced her with.

Lauren decided that this new found fame could work to her advantage and she began teasing the men in her squadrons mercilessly. They were stunned at first then responded with the enthusiasm she was trying to achieve. Once she got that from them they began to function as a team instead of a leaderless mess and soon their kill ratios were totally eclipsing the port side deck crews.

She was having a meeting with her pilots one day when the action stations alarm blared to life. They all rushed for their Vipers and were in the air before anyone could stop them. However, they were listening intently to the broadcast from CIC as they identified themselves to the _Battlestar Galactica_ whom they had suddenly found. A loud cheer rang through the comm as the pilots rejoiced at the news of more Colonials. When they returned to the flight deck Lauren went off in search of news.

"Cole, is that really the _Galactica_ out there? Did we really find them?"

"Looks that way. Cain requested me joining the landing party so you'll be in charge over here." He looked at her and wondered why her face showed dismay not joy. "What's the matter Lauren?"

"I…um…" she turned and began pacing nervously. "I don't want it to be real. I don't think I can face them."

"Who?"

"The people on _Galactica_." She paused to see if that meant anything to him. When he realized that it meant that once more she would have to face her loss his face fell. "Yeah, see why I can't face them? I don't think I can take the sense of loss all over again."

Cole wasn't sure what he could say to make her feel better so he just wrapped her in a hug and let her know that he was there for her if she needed him. "Well, I have to go. Is there anything you want me to say or do?"

"No, I'll have to face it eventually. Thanks though. Scope the old girl out for me and find me something pretty will you?" she grinned at him half heartedly as he left her standing on the deck.

The Raptor slid to a halt on the deck of the _Galactica_ in front of what looked like the entire crew of the ship. Cole stepped from the Raptor and moved to one side so that Colonel Fisk and Admiral Cain could alight. He looked around the mass of people in front of him and he wasn't sure he liked what he saw. Admiral Cain stepped down and was welcomed by Commander Adama and the Interim President then she said a few words and the group began milling about.

He'd been eyeing a petite blonde in dress blues that was wearing Viper wings and was quite attractive. He wasn't sure, but he thought she'd been eyeing him so when they all began introducing themselves he went to her and shook her hand. There were so many of them all wanting to say hello and see if he was someone they knew that he lost track of the names almost immediately.

He wandered around the flight deck a bit watching as people began dispersing and a strange black ship on one end of the deck caught his eye. He was looking it over when he heard Thumper's loud voice boom across the room and he looked over to find his pilot walking with a pretty brunette. They stopped by Thumper's Viper and soon the pretty blonde and a man in a flight suit with a Viper patch joined them.

Suddenly the blonde piped up, "Is this a scorecard? You guys put scorecards on the side of your ships?"

Taking offense at the blonde's remark about a practice the Admiral had initiated he strode over and snapped out, "Where's the _Galactica_ CAG?"

The man in the flight suit spoke up, "Right here."

Cole sneered at him, instantly disliking the man for some unknown reason. "Let's hear the run-down on squadron of yours, Captain. I see you don't keep track of your kills. You should start… encourages morale, gets competition going, esprit de corps."

"Well, that's one philosophy."

"It's Admiral Cain's philosophy. That means it's your philosophy now, Captain." Cole snapped back.

This apparently didn't sit well the younger man, "The name of my Commander is Adama, which should be pretty easy to remember, because it's my name."

The implication of that hit Cole and he registered the reason why he disliked the man so much. Cole had worked his way to where he was, kicking and screaming, and he'd earned what he had. This man had been given everything simply because of who his father was, " Yeah, I'll keep that in mind daddy's boy. Let's see your ordnance lists."

As soon as the words left his lips he mentally kicked himself for being such an ass.

Perhaps it would be best if he just stood back and waited to see where the chips would fall. So he was businesslike and not rude to Captain Adama even though he felt an unwarranted malice towards him, which was also being returned by the younger man. When they'd looked over the ordinance lists and spoken for a while about flight tactics and such, Cole had decided that it would be better if he just tried to be civil. So he invited Adama and his second in command over to the _Pegasus_.

Adama accepted the invitation and Cole headed for his Raptor.


	17. Chapter 17

Cole pondered the turn of events as the Raptor floated back to the _Pegasus_. He thought about the crew that he'd met so far. The CAG was going to be a problem if they both continued to bristle against each other. If the blonde woman with the attitude was high up in the ranks then her mouth would cause some problems with his crew. Most of the rest that he'd met seemed undisciplined, but workable.

When they landed he was immediately accosted by problems and he wasn't able to free himself from them until after the two Vipers had landed. He'd asked Whiplash at one point to keep an eye out for the CAG and his second so they wouldn't just be standing around if he was still tied up. When he finally got himself freed up and made his way back to the deck he was dismayed to find the pair from _Galactica _already there. His anger unfortunately got taken out on Whiplash who had gotten busy himself and had not even noticed when they landed.

When he returned to the pair he was dismayed to find the blonde with the attitude, something Thrace he thought, there. Oh well, if Lauren was there to help him control himself he could make it through a meeting with them. He expelled the last bit of anger at the day by yelling across the deck to Thumper and ordering him to get Lauren on the phone and send her to the conference room.

While they walked through the hallways towards the conference room the pair from the _Galactica_ were whispering at each other like schoolchildren. For some reason that irked Cole and he turned around to look at them with what was apparently a nasty look because they both straightened up and looked somber.

When they sat at the conference room table Cole placed himself facing the door. He'd always preferred to have his back to a wall. He'd offered the pair beverages and they'd just declined when the door hissed open and Lauren walked in, flipping through a folder and already talking about the issues she'd been having. When she reached the corner of the table she realized that the pair from the _Galactica_ was standing there and she looked over at them, her jaw dropping along with the folder she'd been holding.

"L…Lee?"

Cole's heart dropped into his stomach as he realized exactly who was standing in his conference room. He hadn't put it together since he'd not been given the man's first name. Suddenly his whole world shattered into a million tiny pieces. He stared at her as he watched the look on her face go from total elation to a tightly guarded professionalism. She was obviously trying not to break down and show a lack of control so he made a point of looking at the files in front of him.

He couldn't stand to watch as the woman he'd grown to love was reunited with the man she loved so much. The man that Cole had actually hoped was really dead. He bore no malice to the man himself but he'd been hoping and dreaming for several months now that Lauren would get over her loss and realize that he was in love with her.

When she'd finished with her farce of playing that they were simply old friends she straightened herself out and walked around the table to take the seat next to Cole. He looked at her with a hint of a sneer. "I take it you know each other?"

Lauren stumbled and bumbled over the response she was giving. Cole felt his hopes falling father and farther away as the meeting went on. Strangely that invoked a sense of hostility in him that he couldn't determine the cause of. There was no reason for him to be hostile, he was not in a relationship with Lauren and he had no claim to her affections. When Lauren directed the conversation to the topic of the stealth ship on the _Galactica_ he spent the time chiding himself for his attitude and tried to direct his mind to other matters but it kept coming back to Lauren.

Then Lauren suggested a trip to the deck and Cole thought that the excuse to get the others closer to their Vipers and off his ship was grand. He gathered up his files and headed for the door, disappointed to find Lt. Thrace walking with him instead of Lauren. She apparently was talking with her lover and Cole's blood began to boil once more. There was no reasonable explanation for the petty jealousy he was feeling and he swore that he'd stop it immediately.

Then he found Lt. Thrace talking to him in the most annoying manner. She had no discipline and a bad attitude. He wondered if the rest of the pilots on the _Galactica_ were as bad as she was. If that was the case then he'd have a lot of work ahead of him shaping them up. Cain would simply not stand for the lack of discipline in her men. The petite blonde droned on and on as they walked, speaking in no coherent order about how they'd made their way to the sector they were currently in.

When they finally arrived at the flight deck Cole had just about all he could stand from the woman and he looked back to see if Adama was making any move to leave. Unfortunately neither he nor Lauren was there. Cole wondered what had happened to them and figured out that Lauren had probably taken him on a detour to grab a moment alone with him. She wouldn't make the mistake of being gone to long but he felt more and more agitated the longer she took returning.

When she suddenly appeared at he hatch he stormed over to her and grabbed her sleeve, pulling her behind the closest Viper. "What were you doing with him?"

"Cole, it's Lee, he's alive!" The glow on her face could light the whole deck and it drove the knife into his heart just that much further.

"Lauren, you can't be seen with him. You know what Cain will do if she finds out about you two? You've got to be professional, especially around the pilots. Do you know what you'll lose if they find out about you and him? Everything you've worked for, the respect, the admiration, it'll all be gone."

She thought about it for a moment and nodded somberly. "You're right. I'll have to explain it to him but not here. Thanks Cole." She turned and walked back out from behind the Viper and over to her friends. She spoke crisply and said something that Cole didn't quite catch but it sounded brisk and harsh then she saluted and walked off the deck.

Thanking the Gods that Lauren had actually listened to him, he went back to the pair. Swallowing the lump in his throat he turned to Adama, "Well Captain, I hear my 2CAG took you on an impromptu tour of the ship. What did you think of her?" The maliciousness of that remark was more than Cole had intended but at least he'd be able to see if the man was going to give the game away this way. When Adama answered in reference to the ship instead of Lauren he was almost half disappointed. The Lieutenant looked like she'd had enough and was starting to get antsy so Adama excused them and they left.

That night Cole decided once and for all that he had to put Lauren Baker out of his mind. He'd pushed his luck with her too long and if he kept pushing something was going to break. He lay in his bunk pushing her out of his heart, his mind and his life.

When he turned his back on the room there was a tear in his eye.

Fin


End file.
